United Kingdom

Highlights in 2020
Highlights in 2020

High impact innovation activity triggered by MI

Power Forward Challenge: UK-Canada joint challenge on smart energy systems innovation

This £11 million funding competition, being jointly run by the UK and Canada, is supporting innovative and disruptive proposals for smart energy systems. The competition resulted from UK and Canada understanding shared priorities, which was developed through MI. Seven finalists were selected in June 2019, with £1.8 million made available to each finalist to build demonstration projects for submission in October 2021. The winner will be announced by Spring 2022.

Update on clean energy innovation policies and strategies

In June 2019 the UK became the first major economy to legally commit the UK to reaching Net Zero by 2050. To support this commitment, the UK’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution was announced in November 2020, outlining a broad set of policy measures to drive the UK to net zero. This included announcing a new £1 bn net zero innovation portfolio to accelerate commercialisation of innovative low-carbon technologies, systems and business models from 2021-2025.

The net zero innovation portfolio is double the £505 million Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Energy Innovation Programme, which formed part of the UK’s Clean Growth Strategy in 2017. The UK now expects to have invested more than £3bn in low carbon energy innovation between 2015 and 2021, exceeding the £2.5bn set out in the Strategy. This includes funding from UK Research and Innovation and department-specific funds, including Department for Transport and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The UK also committed to doubling its International Climate Finance to at least £11.6 billion between 2021 and 2025 at the Climate Ambition Summit in December 2020, which was convened by the United Nations, the United Kingdom, and France, alongside partners Chile and Italy. The increased funding will enable a step-change in the UK’s impact long-term and support COP26 objectives short-term, with a key focus being unlocking affordable and clean energy.

Major innovation initiatives and programmes in 2020/21

The UK’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution included announcement of a new £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, aiming to set the UK on the path to Net Zero. The portfolio will accelerate the commercialisation of innovative low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings and industry over the next four years.

Further UK initiatives include:

  • Launching the first phase of a £100 million investment in brand-new Greenhouse Gas Removals including Direct Air Capture in November 2020.
  • Commitment to provide £100 million for Energy Storage and Flexibility innovation challenges, which will focus on long-term energy storage.
  • A £50 million UK International Climate Finance Programme – (the Clean Energy Innovation Facility) which aims to accelerate innovative clean technologies in key sectors in developing countries.
  • The Climate Finance Accelerator, with the full programme being launched in November 2020. This supports development of a pipeline of bankable, low-carbon projects, with pilot activities in Mexico, Colombia and Nigeria between 2017 and 2019.

Private sector engagement in 2020/21

Clean Growth Fund – In May 2020 BEIS launched the Clean Growth Fund, a £40 million Fund that combines a £20 million investment from BEIS’ Energy Innovation Programme, alongside £20 million from a private sector investor. The Fund is commercially run and is managed by Clean Growth Investment Management LLP (CGIM). The Fund aims to accelerate the deployment of innovative clean technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, alongside catalysing the UK clean growth venture capital market and leveraging private sector funding into early-stage clean tech start-ups.

Energy Entrepreneurs Fund – The 8th round of the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund closed for applications on 30th March 2021. £11 m of grants are available to support the development of technologies, products and processes in energy efficiency, power generation and storage, with successful applicants expected to kick off projects in July and August 2021. To date, the fund has given £72 m of grants to 156 companies, who have raised more than £500m in private investment.

UK Research and Innovation has also awarded many millions of pounds in grants to the private sector for clean energy innovation.  Precise allocations are difficult to disaggregate given the way the competitions were structured.  They include £32 million for round 7 of the Energy Catalyst competition and £8 million for Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Decarbonisation of Industrial Clusters.

Major activities in support of the Innovation Challenges in 2020/21

IC5 – Converting Sunlight – The UK IC5 leadership has played a key role in the development of the IC5 roadmap for Sunlight Conversion, which has included co-leadership of four international workshops to establish global consensus on innovation efforts needed. The IC5 roadmap was published in February 2021, discussing the value chain for sunlight conversion, technological approaches and integration with existing infrastructure. The UK IC5 leadership is also working closely with the UK’s Solar Fuel Network and other stakeholders to highlight the potential of sunlight conversion in preparation for COP26.

IC7 – Affordable Heading and Cooling of Buildings – As a co-leader of IC7, the UK has supported the US$3 million Global Cooling Prize, the winner of which was announced in April 2021. Barocal Ltd, a firm based at the University of Cambridge, was one of the finalists and were awarded $200,000 for their entry – developing non-vapor compression technology. IC7 has also been developing an urban cooling roadmap for cities in conjunction with the Cool Coalition, UN Environment Programme, Global Covenant of Mayors and the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Programme, which is expected to be published in September 2021.

Public sector RD&D investment

The figure for 2020 is an estimate. The final figure is expected to be higher.

New Collaborations

  • Collaborator: IC7, UNEP, KCEP, GCoM, RMI
    • Name of collaboration
      • Urban Cooling Roadmap
    • Brief Description
      • Development of an urban cooling roadmap
    • Sectors
      • Public-private
    • Type of collaboration
      • Development and demonstration
    • Duration
      • Dec 2020 to July 2021
    • Funding amount
      • $180,000

 

  • Collaborator: China, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and USA
    • Name of collaboration
      • Solar cooling for the sunbelt region
    • Brief Description
      • IC7 has endorsed a new IEA collaboration in the area of “Solar cooling for the sunbelt regions”. The task will focus on innovations for affordable, safe and reliable solar cooling systems for the sunbelt regions worldwide.
    • Sectors
      • Public-private
    • Type of collaboration
      • Development and demonstration
    • Duration
      • July 2020 to July 2022
    • Additional information